Member-only story
QUOTE OF THE DAY
How Much Of Your Success As A Writer Depends On Luck?
A lot more than you think, says an award-winning author of more than 400 books
“Well, it was really a fluke.”
You hear those words a lot when your work involves interviewing bestselling authors, as mine does, and asking how they became stars. They say did all the right things, such reading voraciously and writing every day.
But they were also lucky, they admit. They were writing about the right subject at the right time, or had a chance meeting with an editor or agent who took an unexpected interest in their work. Flukes helped them make a mark while others — no less diligent or talented — faded away.
Few authors have described such realities more forthrightly than Jane Yolen, who has written more than 400 books of science fiction, fantasy, and children’s literature, including the Caldecott Medal–winning Owl Moon.
Yolen writes in Take Joy: A Book for Writers (The Writer Books, 2003):
“Know this about being published: it is out of your hands. Even if you do…
